For the Future
by xXMiss.BrightSideXx
Summary: Jesse had seen enough movies to know where this was going.


He had done everything that every great movie involving proposals had taught him. He had the flowers, the slow music in the background, her favorite food all over the table, and all that was left was to get the girl. Jesse grinned nervously. His girl, Beca, the one who originally hated movies, the one who avoided all his advances and hopefully, after tonight, the one who would agree to spend the rest of her life together with him.

Jesse straightened the chairs once more before turning towards the pathway. Beca was supposed to text him when she was about to walk up so he could surprise her. A buzz and a quick glance at his phone told him that she had just pulled up. Jogging to the front of the path, he straightened the sports jacket he wore and attempted to smooth his hair back. The black shoes and black pants were uncomfortable but he would endure anything to make sure this night went perfectly.

His hands sweated as she walked up, flawless in all her grace. The dark purple dress that she wore clung to her until it flared to a couple of inches above her knees. She was gorgeous and more than he ever deserved. He could only hope that she didn't feel the same way and let him continue to love her forever. She glided over to him as he held out an arm, eyebrow cocked in question.

"And what exactly are we doing here?"

"It's a surprise."

"You're going to cover my eyes? Because it took a good ten minutes to do what you see on my face."

Jesse rolled his eyes good humoredly. "I promise to be careful of your make up. But, yeah, I'm going to cover your eyes."

"So you can throw me in the lake that I saw?" Beca still looked skeptical of his plans, but he knew her well enough that she'd agree eventually.

"You caught onto my scheme." He laughed lightly, nerves tightening in his gut. "Come on. I don't want our food getting cold."

Reluctantly, Beca closed her eyes and allowed herself to be led by the hand. Meanwhile, Jesse carefully held his hand a couple of inches off of her face so she could still see the ground if she needed to. Hopefully, she hadn't guessed what this was about quite yet. His girl was perceptive and usually good at guessing surprises, but he wanted this one to last as long as possible.

He stopped at the edge of the grotto, taking one last second to make sure everything was in place. The lights strung in and around the vines at walls of the gazebo gave a dreamlike vibe, while the table's simple setting was more in line with what Beca would normally like. He had thought about a large, multi-course meal, but eventually decided against it.

"Ok, you can open your eyes."

Her stunned expression was enough to slightly calm the tidal waves inside of him. "Jesse, this is amazing." And the rare lack of sarcasm made him grin wildly.

"Yeah, well, I wanted to do something special. That's okay once in a while, right?"

His tone must have given something away because she gave him a suspicious glance but he quickly ushered her to the table waiting for them. Dinner was nothing very special, but he tried to keep up a steady flow of conversation. The anxiousness threatened to overwhelm him as he tried to remind himself why tonight wouldn't fail in the multiple ways he was thinking about.

They had talked about marriage before, especially after the Bella's retreat where she admitted they talked about the future and Beca had told the girls about her internship. He had been ecstatic to hear that she came clean, but it lead him to wonder where he fit in her grand scheme. They had talked about where he was applying for work, and where and how they would keep being together.

So, it wasn't like he was springing this on her without warning. And, in fact, in a show of gentlemanly manners, he had even asked her dad for her blessing along with all the rest of the Bellas. He had extracted binding promises that they wouldn't tell her anything and they had agreed, giggling wildly. He had absolutely zero reason to be nervous.

No reason at all to be anxious. How could she say no? Then a bleak thought came from that: how could she say yes? He was a movie nerd and stuttered a lot when he was around her and was a busybody and shoved himself into her life over and over and there were so many things that could go wrong and why did he think this was a good idea –

"Are you alright?" Beca's voice suddenly broke through his thoughts, jarring him slightly.

"What? Oh yeah, I'm fine. How are you doing? Are you comfortable? It's kind of chilly, do you want my jacket? –" He was rambling but with his hand in his pocket, fingering the little velvet box, how could he not?

"Jesse," Beca forcefully stopped him in is tracks. "What is going on?"

Suddenly, the moment arose; he couldn't have planned a better way to move to the question he really wanted to ask. If this was a movie, romantic music would be growing slightly softer to accommodate the seriousness of the situation and he slowly smiled to himself.

"Actually, Beca, there is something I wanted to ask you." He got up and then down on one knee. "I was wondering if you would do me the honor of agreeing to marry me."

It was almost impossible to look up into her eyes. Would he find rejection? The same cold look as she pushed him out of her life forever? But then, he had to know, had to find out.

"You want me?" She whispered. "You really want me to marry you?"

And just as much as he wanted to just get an answer, Jesse could see the real surprise that he read in her face. She hadn't expected him to propose. Somehow, she was shocked to find out that he wanted commitment from her, that he wanted to spend the rest of his life make music with her.

"We've got a history together. I was kind of hoping we could also have a future together." He gave a wry grin. "I mean, I did stalk you just to be your friend. Hopefully, it won't take that much to propose but I can do whatever –"

"YES! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" Beca screamed as she threw herself from her chair.

The force of her knocking into him knocked both of them to the ground, the box awkwardly between them. Still, her arms were around her neck while she was still repeating the affirmative to his question. He was overjoyed, and suddenly all his worries seemed so pointless. Why was he worried in the first place?

Once they had righted themselves, and he slipped the modest ring onto the third finger of her left hand, they stood holding each other. The night couldn't be any better and Jesse grinned to himself and he moved them into a dance position. She might have resisted for a moment but he wanted to savor the romance of the moment, certain it wouldn't last for too much longer. But for now, it was just the two of them, dancing to the soundtrack of cheesy violins and the gentle lap of the river.


End file.
